Wednesday, November 28, 2012

What’s your ikigai? In Okinawa, Japan, ikigai is that which gets you out of bed
in the morning, that which makes life worth living. Being able to articulate
your ikigai is associated with adding
years—maybe even a decade—to your lifespan according to a team of academics and
Dan Buettner, an adventurer, author
and TED-talker.
This National Geographic writer traveled the world to document communities where
people tend to live longer, healthier lives than most everyone else. From
Okinawa, Japan, to Ikaria, Greece (see The Island Where People forget to Die), Buettner, in collaboration with demographers
and gerontologists highlight nine lifestyle characteristics of people who live a really
long time.

Genetics plays a
surprisingly small role in longevity; genes dictate ~25% of how long we live. Rather, a web of lifestyle characteristics woven
together with cultural threads explains much of why people in certain
communities live longer than others.

What else did I glean from
their insights? Not only can I happily relish
a glass or two of wine (or sake) every night, but I should embrace napping when
I need it.

The
vigorous centenarians interviewed in this research don’t run or pump iron or do
exercise as most urban folk think of
exercise. Rather, they live in places that nudge
them to move. In many of their communities, people have little choice but to walk
up and down hills to visit friends and do the shopping. Most tend large gardens
full of fruits, vegetables and herbs that sustain their health. Dieting, as
promoted by the diet industry, does not work in the long term. Instead,
longevity studies reinforce Michael Pollan’s simple food guideline: “eat food, mostly plants, not too much.”

Communities
where people tend to live 90 to 100+ years have routines or rituals that shed
stress including meditation, prayer, napping or happy hour. Most belong to a
faith-based community. Critically, these folks live in social circles that
support and reinforce their lifestyles. Multiple generations tend to live in
one house or close to each other. With their bright eyes and tanned skin, I
want to look like these 90+ year olds when I’m that age (perhaps without the plaid
shorts, pictured left).
As I mentioned, consciously
recognizing and giving voice to your ikigai is strongly associated with living
to a century-long age. What’s my ikigai? As a graduate student in a
sustainability program, my ikigai is figuring out how to enhance human
well-being while also supporting the rest of life on this planet (marine
renewable energy is my current focus). In my personal and professional life, I
want to be part of creating places where people have ample life-enhancing food,
love, purpose and a sense of humor (as evidenced in this priceless anecdote about Moraitis, pictured above, who outlived his
American doctors after moving back to his Greek island from the US where he got
sick).

One of the most
encouraging findings of this research is the overlap of living sustainably,
living well and living for a long time. These
food-secure communities are in developed countries with functioning public health
and sanitation systems. They have a basic but adequate standard of living. When
I read about these vigorous centenarians, I was struck by what I see as the
relatively low environmental impact of their lifestyles. Buettner’s case
studies give us insight on potential ways to refocus and redefine quality of
life, and re-create our lives and communities accordingly in ways that are
better for our minds, hearts and the planet:

We can improve our transit
systems. Many of the elders interviewed have primarily walked or cycled to get
around rather than fully relying on motorized vehicles. We need to make the
walking or cycling options easier and more convenient.

We can design better food
systems. The elders in these studies consume mostly locally-grown food and grow
much of it themselves. I’m getting more involved in community gardening and
farmer’s markets with my friends, especially since I think it’s associated with
living longer!

We can consume less. Large
houses, expensive health care products and procedures, non-essentials like
fancy gadgets and other forms of conspicuous consumption are largely absent
from their way of life. Enjoying modest, secure, and stable lives does not
require high levels of consumption.

We can help others and
ourselves experience a greater sense of belonging. These 90+ year olds
prioritize time with family and friends, who live near them and take care of
them when they need it. I have no doubt that prioritizing relationships over
accumulating material things is better for my happiness and the planet. Time to
plan more neighborhood potlucks.

Although I lack
quantitative data to support this speculation, I bet these elders have very small carbon
footprints over the course of
their lives. I speculate their carbon footprints are likely considerably
smaller than the average North American’s, so, despite living longer, the
average environmental impact of their lives is likely less than the
shorter-lived average impact of a North American’s. If we want to stabilize our climate and also help
more people live longer, satisfied, healthy lives, we have a lot to learn from
their communities and lifestyles. Sarah Klain, a PhD Student at University of British Columbia, hopes that her fondness for pragmatic idealism, friends, family, cycling, gardening and red wine will help her live to at least 90 years old.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Bowen Island is blessed by water, but do we value it accordingly?Photo credit: Robyn Hooper

By Robyn
Hooper

MF and MSc
Candidate (UBC and SLU)

What would we do without water? Clean drinking water, specifically, is
something we take for granted on Bowen Island and British Columbia. Our wild
environment provides the important service of cleaning and filtering our water.
The lower mainland boasts of having world-class drinking water quality, thanks
to the “ecosystem services” provided by our natural environment, which purifies
our water for safe human consumption. All we need to do is “turn on the tap” so
to speak. In Saltillo, capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila, people voluntarily
put money towards the protection of Sierra mountain area where their water
comes from. Would such a program maintain our local water supplies into the
future and protect against threats to water quality?

Payment for Watershed Services
Program in Saltillo, Mexico

The “Payment
for Watershed Services” program in Saltillo started for the city residents to
pay - voluntarily - for the Sierra catchment area to be protected. Although the
catchment area is technically a reserve, increasing agricultural and human
developments threaten the watershed. So, a group of NGOs started the program in
2003 as a scheme to encourage “local guardians of the watershed”. The first
challenge of the program was educating locals about where their water resources
come from, which initiated a campaign entitled “Por una razón de peso (a
reason of one peso)”. Values from the watershed not only include water
resources, but recreation and educational services as well. The program has been
successful in gaining contributions from 14% of the population, but in small
amounts, such as around ten to twenty five cents annually on their water bill.
However, the small donations add up - about $6,000 USD was donated in 2008
alone. These donations are managed by a respected citizen support group with
expertise from organizations such as the WWF. Project proposals by land-owners
are submitted and analyzed by a panel of experts. Also, projects are not only
about complete protection of the forest, but include conservation and
restoration activities.

There are many interesting elements to the program in
Saltillo, Mexico that contribute to its success. Primarily, the voluntary
payment scheme means that people are choosing on their own to protect the natural environment that provides them
with services. In addition, the donations are kept by the local communities for
projects as opposed to management by larger organizations or companies. However,
the expert and global NGO involvement ensures that the projects are useful and
worthwhile activities.

Payment for Ecosystem Services on
Bowen Island?

Bowen Island
residents currently do not have a program to pay for the services our ecosystem
provides, such as water resources. However, this is because we are lucky to
have clean water resources and abundant forest Crown land. In the long-term
with growing population how can we develop programs to ensure water quality? While
our context differs considerably from Saltillo, Mexico, payments for ecosystem
services programs are springing up in more- and less-developed countries all
over the world. Now that we have put off the idea of a National Park on Bowen (a
conservation scheme that might have added more security to our water
resources), it is important we consider how our land is managed to ensure
protection of our water resources. Voluntary payments and protection schemes
would be a concept to consider in the long-term. The message from Mexico is
this: we are blessed with our clean water, so let’s ensure the protection of
the land that provides that service.

Robyn Hooper is a graduate
student at the University of British Columbia and candidate for a Dual Masters
program (Masters of Science and Masters of Forestry). She has a background in
conservation science and international issues. Robyn grew up on Bowen Island
and continues to visit her family there.